China's DeepSeek taps CITIC Securities for domestic IPO: Report
The startup is seeking funding as AI rivals rush to public markets and costs climb for computing power, data centers and talent.
- On September 9, Chinese AI startup DeepSeek tapped CITIC Securities to prepare for an initial public offering on Shanghai's STAR Market. The Hangzhou-based company aims to begin the IPO process this year, though timing and valuation remain undetermined.
- Seeking mainland China listings, companies typically appoint securities firms for pre-listing tutoring. This reflects mounting pressure on AI firms to secure public capital to finance costly computing power and specialized engineering talent.
- In June, the startup raised about $7.4 billion at a post-money valuation exceeding $50 billion. Founder Liang Wenfeng personally committed 20 billion yuan, while Tencent Holdings and CATL contributed 10 billion yuan and 5 billion yuan respectively.
- Recent talent losses to better-funded rivals like ByteDance and Xiaomi highlight operational strain facing DeepSeek. These departures underscore the urgent need for public market financing to remain competitive.
- Developers MiniMax and peers listed in Hong Kong earlier this year, while Beijing-based Moonshot filed confidentially for a similar offering. DeepSeek's push positions it among a wave of Chinese AI firms racing for public capital amid rising computational costs.
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EXCLUSIVE: China's DeepSeek taps CITIC Securities for domestic IPO, sources say
Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek has tapped CITIC Securities to prepare for an initial public offering on Shanghai's tech-focused STAR Market, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
Deepseek is aiming for a listing on Shanghai's Star Market as early as 2026 and has hired major bank CITIC Securities to help with the preparations. The valuation of $75 billion is a fraction of what the American Anthropic is expected to achieve in its planned IPO. The gap with its American rivals is significant. Anthropic could be valued at up to $2 trillion at its IPO, while OpenAI is aiming for up to $1 trillion. The entire industry is rushin…
As securing shares became difficult in DeepSeek's latest funding round, investors turned to indirect fund structures. Some instruments have entry fees exceeding 15%, profit shares reaching up to 40%, and shares are locked in for five years.
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